Q&A: Ashton on life after the leadership bid, that abortion debate and more

Just one week after being named the NDP critic for women’s issues, Niki Ashton faced off against a Conservative member’s motion to reopen the abortion debate. iPolitics caught up with the former NDP leadership candidate to talk about returning to Ottawa, debating abortion, and hitting the provincial campaign trail in Alberta.

You’ve been back to full-time MP duties for about a month now. Are you glad to have the leadership race behind you?

Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the next chapter, and excited to work with Tom Mulcair and our team in the house. I think we’re going in the right direction … I’m very, very happy about the [shadow cabinet] offer. The fight for gender equality is something that I’ve been involved with for quite some time, even before I was elected. There’s been some really dynamic women that have come before me to do this work. It’s an honour to follow in their footsteps.

You were called into action almost right away, with a private members’ motion from Stephen Woodworth that was seen as an attempt to re-open the abortion debate. When all was said and done, what did you think of how the debate actually went?

I think if Harper had stayed true to his word, we wouldn’t have had the debate at all. That’s what Canadians heard in the election, and we’ve heard it since the election, and it’s not what happened. I think Gordon O’Connor made some very important statements, but at the end of the day the Conservative Party allowed this debate to take place.

Woodworth was acting as a private member. What do you think the party should have done – stopped him?

There’s all sorts of conversations that happen behind the scenes. People consult with people when they come up with private member’s bills – you want to make sure that whatever you’re putting forward makes sense. [Woodworth] knew very well what position his party – his leader – had taken, and yet it still happened. We know that there were other MPs that applauded him. So this was more than just a independent act.

What’s changed for you since the leadership race? How did running a national campaign impact what you want to do as a politician, or how you’re approaching your job?

Well, first off, the critic area is different. It’s a big undertaking, especially because women issues have been one of the areas in which the Harper government has been the most regressive. But beyond that, people heard from me directly during the campaign, and know a bit more of who I am, and are very positive about the leadership, and excited to talk to me about it, and where we’re going as a team. There’s a lot of personal connections that I made consciously and unconsciously. A lot of people tuned into the leadership and got excited, and that’s something that comes up a lot.

Besides gender equality, one of the issues you talked a lot about during your leadership bid was building the NDP in the west. Were the Alberta election results inspiring in that respect?

I actually went out and helped campaign during the Alberta election. We increased our vote in a number of areas to historic highs. There were some really positive trends. I think the other thing that was interesting is that the Wildrose Party, which a number of Harper MPs were quite openly supporting, didn’t do well at all – didn’t meet the expectations that many had had. I think part of the reason is because people didn’t trust them. They talked about conscience rights, but a lot of people really rejected the idea of rolling the clock back on women’s rights, on same-sex rights. I think that’s a lesson for the Harper Conservatives.

I didn’t realize you went out there. What prompted you to hit the campaign trail again?

Yeah. I did help with the two MLAs who won – but I’m not going to take credit (laughs) … I went out there because I had gotten to know people during the leadership, and I was really inspired by what they were doing in a place where the NDP hasn’t had the kind of seats that we’d like to see. It was very energizing. There were a lot of factors in the provincial election, like strategic voting. But I think one of the things that we can take away is the way people in Alberta are seeing the NDP differently. I think that also has a connection to the federal side, and it is promising for the work we need to do federally too.